Three Kidnapped Missionaries Are Freed in Cameroon

DAKAR, Senegal — Two Italian priests and a Canadian nun, kidnapped nearly two months ago near Cameroon’s border with Nigeria in a region rife with Boko Haram militants, have been freed, Cameroon’s communications minister said on Sunday.

The minister would not discuss the terms under which the three were released. But past kidnappings of Europeans by Boko Haram in northern Cameroon have involved the release of prisoners in return, along with payments of cash. The three were flown to Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé.

The two priests — Giampaolo Marta and Gianantonio Allegri — and the nun — Gilberte Bussière — were abducted early on April 5 from their mission in northern Cameroon. That area is used as a rear base by Boko Haram, which is waging a bloody terrorist campaign against villagers across the border in northern Nigeria.

The area is lightly policed, and the militants have carried out four kidnappings of foreigners there in the past 18 months, with the latest being the seizing of 10 Chinese road workers from their camp two weeks ago. The Nigerians have accused Cameroonian officials of not taking the Boko Haram threat seriously enough, and in the past week the Cameroon government has confirmed that it has sent an undisclosed number of troops to the area.

The priests freed had worked in the region for many years. Cameroonian officials met them at the regional capital, Maroua, early Sunday and flew them to Yaoundé, the communications minister, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, said.

“They have been freed,” he said. “Very early this morning.”

A spokesman for the Vatican, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said news of the captives’ release “fills us with joy.”

Mr. Bakary would not confirm reports that Cameroonian soldiers had engaged in clashes with militants over the weekend. “We never discuss these matters, for reasons of state,” the minister said. “We are at war with the Boko Haram. When the army is at the front, the less said, the better.”

“Boko Haram is an amorphous menace,” Mr. Bakary added. “We must avoid giving out anything that will wake them up.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A8 of the New York edition with the headline: Three Kidnapped Missionaries Are Freed in Cameroon. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe